| Name | Krue |
|---|---|
| Last Name | Brock |
| Home Address | 1331 Scenic Hwy. Lookout Mountain, GA 30750 United States |
| Organization Name | Chattanooga FC Foundation |
| Describe Your Role In The Organization | As Executive Director of the Chattanooga FC Foundation, I oversee all programs and facilities, lead fundraising efforts, and ensure the organization stays on mission. |
| Organization Address | 1271 Market St. Suite C Chattanooga, TN 37402 United States |
| Website | https://www.chattanoogafcfdn.org |
| Best Phone Number To Reach You | 423-987-4565 |
| Alternate Phone Number | |
| Email Address | krue@chattanoogafc.com |
| Alternate Email Address | nate@chattanoogafcfdn.org |
| Please Describe Your Project In Detail | Currently, the 13 acres on the south end of Montague Park in Chattanooga, TN consist of one marked field, a grassy and overgrown space, and a berm. The existing field sits near the center of the property and is slated to be improved. Surrounding this field, two additional full size soccer fields will be constructed—all three lit. The existing field will remain a grass field and the two additional fields will be constructed as turf fields. Similar to Highland Park Commons (HPC), a turf soccer complex in the Highland Park neighborhood of Chattanooga managed by Chattanooga FC Foundation, these fields will be a space for the community to gather, play, and take part in Foundation-run programming. Site construction—with the exception of the pavilion—is expected to be completed by July of 2024. The designs for the space are expected to be completed by April of 2022 and fundraising for the entire project by October of 2022. The civil plan and contractor bids are expected to be completed by March of 2023, with final site construction to be completed by July of 2024. The first and highest priority phase of the project will be completing the construction of the three fields—including lights. While somewhat usable, the entire space is largely uneven, overgrown, and surrounded by a chain link fence. It is unwelcoming: the southern vehicle entrance turns suddenly off of a busy road while the north pedestrian entrance is mostly hidden. The southern end of Montague Park has no restrooms, the parking lot is unmarked, and play is restricted to between sunrise and sunset. This massively limits use of the field, which is currently restricted to Foundation programs. The proposed project will allow the space to be opened up to the larger public, serving a similar purpose as HPC of bringing together the people of Chattanooga and both improving physical and mental health. The proposed construction will not only invite use by the surrounding community, but will extend and accommodate it. Lighted fields and restrooms will allow for longer and more comfortable use of the fields. Additional parking will create ease of access for guests and eliminate confusion surrounding who is welcome to use the field. And while the fields will bring the community together over a shared love of soccer and physical activity, the pavilion will allow for a number of other community activities to take place, like potlucks, birthday parties, and trophy ceremonies. In addition to the community-facing side of the facility, staff are intentionally hired from the surrounding community and mentored throughout their time working, setting them up for long-term success beyond working with CFCF. |
| Please explain how your project meets the requirements of the American Rescue Plan | Our project falls under the requirements for the American Rescue Plan, as well as the City of Chattanooga’s focus on investments that catalyze lasting change in our city, focus on disproportionately affected communities, and have a clear plan to demonstrate impact. Concerning the interest in supporting individuals experiencing trauma, the fields at Montague Park will provide a safe space for community sports, including additional space for CFCF programs. Physical activity has been shown to be an outlet for individuals working through emotional difficulties, and team sports, including soccer, an especially creative and open game, adds an additional layer to this—bringing folks from all walks of life together over a simple game. And while the aforementioned statement holds true for both adults and youth, the fields at Montague Park will allow CFCF even more space to run youth programming, directly benefiting youth, their families, and long-term, the city. CFCF has been managing the Highland Park Commons (HPC) for several years and have seen enormous growth in the organization and safety of the facility while continuing to see an incredibly diverse group of individuals come together each night. Even though the facility is located in Highland Park, it attracts individuals from the entire East side of Chattanooga and beyond. The facility has, however, nearly reached capacity. Between free-play, Foundation and other leagues, reservations, and Foundation programming, there is little room for much else. Fields at Montague Park would allow for CFCF to both reach a new community of individuals and continue to grow youth-serving programming, benefiting the city long-term. CFCF youth-serving programming, made up of Operation Get Active (OGA) and Chattanooga Sports Ministries (CSM), focuses on both creating a safe space for youth to exercise through soccer, creating a long-term option to stay healthy, and putting youth in positive mentoring relationships with invested adults, benefiting them during key developmental years. Both programs, while focused on keeping kids active, also focus on holistic development—treating players as whole people. Additionally, coaches are trained using trauma-informed principles, helping participants to both have an outlet for what they are feeling and learn ways to better regulate strong emotions born out of their trauma. CFCF has had great success running programming at Highland Park Commons and around the city, and Highland Park Commons itself has had enormous success, leading the city to award CFCF with the lease we currently have and a goal of recreating what we have already done. |
| Where would your project take place? | Montague Park, Chattanooga, TN 37408 |
| How much will your project cost in total? | 5000000 |
| Do you have any matching funding sources from other local governments, private entities, non-profits, or philanthropic entities for your project? | No |
| Please describe the source and list amounts of any other funding. | |
| What portion of the project are you asking the city to fund? | |
| If funded, when would your project start? | March 1, 2023 |
| How long would your project take to complete? | 16 months |
| What milestones would you use to measure your project’s progress? | The project milestones are mentioned above. The designs for the space are expected to be completed by April of 2022 and fundraising for the entire project by October of 2022. The civil plan and contractor bids are expected to be completed by March of 2023, with final site construction to be completed by July of 2024. Aside from the pavilion, the construction, per the lease agreement, must be completed by July of 2024. Constructing and lighting the three fields is the first milestone post-funding, and then continuing to build out the park, with completion of the pavilion being the final step. |
| How would you ensure accountability and transparency throughout the project lifecycle? | By nature of our having a lease with the City of Chattanooga dependent on the completion of this project, we are sending quarterly reports to the City and would be happy to send these reports to the American Rescue Plan as well. The project is part of a public deal on public property and designed for public use, and therefore transparent and exposed, creating a strong sense of accountability to both the City and the public. |
| If successful, how would your project benefit the community? | The Chattanooga FC Foundation (CFCF) has a proven track record of positively engaging and impacting underserved communities in Chattanooga. The Foundation runs three programs, Operation Get Active (OGA), Chattanooga Sports Ministries (CSM), and Chattanooga Football League (CFL), and manages a facility similar to what Montague Park will become, Highland Park Commons (HPC). All of these programs and the facility are, in different ways, dedicated to creating opportunities for holistic development and finding hope for a brighter future at no or heavily-reduced cost through a shared love of soccer. Montague Park is located directly within an area identified by the Trust for Public Land’s Healthy Connected Chattanooga analysis as a key opportunity for advancing health and climate equity priorities. Specifically, the area immediately surrounding the park ranks very high for adults not meeting physical activity recommendations, as well as very high for mental health conditions. Indicators for equity opportunities are even stronger, as populations immediately surrounding Montague Park rank very high for the following: low-income households, less than high school education, linguistically isolated populations, and population under the age of five. The health challenges experienced by the at-risk populations within walking distance of Montague Park present an urgency to provide the quality team sports and community-building opportunities that will come with the improvements made to the space. |
| How will you attract community buy-in for your project? | Having had success managing and growing the Highland Park Commons (HPC), and at the request of the city to replicate what we have done at HPC at Montague, we will continue this model of providing inclusive, community focused programming and free-play. Chattanooga FC Foundation (CFCF) runs three programs, Operation Get Active (OGA), Chattanooga Sports Ministries (CSM), and Chattanooga Football League (CFL). Both OGA and CSM work with youth in and around Chattanooga. OGA focuses heavily on after-school soccer programming, serving over 5,500 participants since 2016. CSM offers sports programming with a more holistic approach, using soccer to create mentoring relationships with at-risk youth, serving over 350 unique participants from five underserved neighborhoods across Chattanooga in 2021. CFL builds community using soccer through recreational leagues, with as many as 450 players currently participating in adult leagues each season. Additionally, the Foundation has a close partnership with the Chattanooga Football Club and the CFC Academy, with the club currently utilizing HPC. Each of these programs currently uses HPC, maxing out it’s capacity alongside free-play and reservations. The addition of fields at Montague Park will allow CFCF programs to grow and continue to engage the local community. This model of using programming, free-play, and reservations, alongside a culture of safe, inclusive soccer, has been successful at HPC. Individuals from all across the city support its efforts by engaging in the programming offered, and we look forward to replicating this at Montague Park. |
| Name | Nate Plating |
| Contact Information | nate@chattanoogafcfdn.org, 719-290-7748 |
| Is there anything else you would like us to know about your project? | |